Untitled
by Zenki
Summary: Kamisama and the Devil make a wager which has severe repercussions. Kind of pointless now since I didn't know anything about Hild. Abandoned
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Bet.  
  
"Dear sibling, I take it that your presence indicates  
interest in my proposition."  
  
Kami-sama sighed, as he stirred the sugar into his cup  
of coffee. "I am only interested in preventing you from  
hurting people. Your proposition does not interest me in  
the slightest."  
  
A laugh. "You seriously think that I would believe that  
you would leave your office and leave Yggdrasil unattended,  
just to chit-chat with me over a cup of latte in Midgard?  
No, you won't bother with this mere trifle unless you were  
genuinely interested."  
  
He turned away and sipped a bit of coffee. "I'm only  
interested insomuch as to the threat that you pose to  
humans."  
  
"Me pose a threat?" The Devil put on an air of pain.  
"You must recognize that without humans, I would have no  
means of entertaining myself at all. Destroying Midgard is  
the last thing on my mind."  
  
"Somehow I don't feel relieved."  
  
"It's just a bet. Nothing more, nothing less."  
  
Kami-sama sighed and eyed his brother. "Bets never  
exist without a payoff. What exactly do you have in mind?"  
  
"Perhaps something simple, like the loser has to do the  
winner's bidding."  
  
Kami-sama raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ok ok, for a period of time equal in length to one  
Midgard day, and it can't include stuff overly destructive  
like burn Yggsadrasil to the ground."  
  
"Slightly better. And what exactly is this bet?"  
  
But Kami-sama's brother wasn't exactly paying attention,  
his attention having been conveniently diverted by the  
waitress who was cleaning the table next to them.  
  
"Later brother dear, after I," and with a smooth motion,  
he sent his cup of coffee on a crash course with the ground,  
"gratify myself."  
  
The waitress gave him a look, and in response, he oozed  
innocence and crouched down to pick up the pieces.  
  
Kami-sama sighed and buried his face into his hands.  
  
* * *  
  
Keiichi sighed as stared out the window. It was early,  
it was Sunday, and he still had a problem set that somehow  
remained unfinished before him due tomorrow. For strange  
reason, he didn't feel any particular urge to do his  
homework, and was quite safe from feelings of pain that  
procrastinators oft feel.  
  
But still, with slight effort, he lifted the pencil and  
half-heartily scratched out a few guesses on a piece of  
scrap.  
  
A few problems later, he chanced a look outside and  
found impeccable weather, weather that begged to be taken  
advantage of.  
  
Giving in to desires, he slammed the books shut.  
Standing up and working the kinks out of his back with a  
quick stretch, he walked off to find Belldandy.  
  
He found her working on something in the living room.  
  
"Say, Belldandy, are you up for a walk? I feel I need a  
quick break from homework."  
  
She smiled as if she had been waiting for him to ask  
that question. "Sure, let's go. The weather is absolutely  
beautiful today."  
  
The two of them walked to the front door, and carefully  
donned their shoes, when the phone rang.  
  
Belldandy took off her shoes and rushed to pick up the  
phone. Keiichi could hear silent talking, Belldandy  
speaking into the phone with a hushed voice. A minute or  
two later, she hung up the phone.  
  
"So who was it?" he asked as she slowly approached, her  
footsteps deliberate, her head bowed down concealing  
emotions from him.  
  
She looked up, her sadness overwhelming him. He tried to  
comfort her, but a sudden fit of sleepiness overcame him,  
and he succumbed to deep, dreamless slumber.  
  
* * *  
  
Keiichi woke up literally with a start as he felt a hand  
slap him. Still smarting, his eyes clenched shut, he  
uttered the first thing that came to his mind. "URD!"  
  
And surely enough, Urd, far away, shouted, "What now?  
Can't a goddess watch some tv in peace?"  
  
He opened his eyes and found himself looking at two very  
angry eyes. Mara, his goddess, his one and only, angry?  
  
"Geez, we were going out on a walk, and you just had to  
fall asleep and plant your face in my bosom," she screamed,  
while struggling with her dress. "Why does Belldandy have  
to like restricting..."  
  
He pleaded for forgiveness. "I'm sorry. It's still  
nice out, why don't we go for a walk? It's a beautiful day,  
and maybe you would like a break from routine?"  
  
Mara sighed as she remembered the stipulation that she  
was supposed to follow -- she had to be sweet and nice.  
"Very well, let's go."  
  
The two barely made a step when Urd decided to see what  
the commotion was about. "Hey, Bell, what's with..." She  
froze still when she saw Mara not in her usual leather but  
rather in a nice, frilly dress.  
  
She laughed, rather enthusiastically, and barely spoke  
between spasms. "Mara... you're... in... a... dress!"  
  
Mara growled. "Well, let's see you try one of these on,  
and we'll see who's laughing! If I could, I would..." Her  
voice was laced with threat.  
  
"Oh, a little fight is what you want? Well, you're  
going to get a fight!" And the two of them cocked back  
their fists in preparation to unleash fury.  
  
Keiichi stepped between the two. "Please stop. Maybe  
we should..." He never finished, interrupted by the two  
fists that collided into him.  
  
The two "goddesses" watched Keiichi slowly sink to the  
ground, his face distorted from the force of two punches.  
  
"Look at what you did to poor Keiichi," shouted Urd as  
she picked up what was left of Keiichi and thoughtfully  
hugged him close and tight.  
  
"Well, you punched him too!" retorted Mara, as she  
pulled Keiichi free from Urd. He was still quite dazed and  
came along without resistance.  
  
- - -  
  
As the two of them strolled through the park, Mara  
couldn't help but mutter colorful descriptions of what she  
thought about Urd.  
  
Keiichi sighed, as this walk was anything but  
comforting. He hadn't expected Mara to be in such a  
negative frame of mind. "Mara, are feeling fine? Are you  
tired?"  
  
Mara was genuinely surprised for his concern, especially  
after she had smacked him and then punched him. "I feel  
different, trapped almost."  
  
"Know how you feel," said Keiichi. "I feel trapped."  
  
"You?" She was quite incredulous.  
  
"Yeah, pressure from my parents, pressure from my  
friends, and sometimes pressure from your sisters." He  
angled away from the path and settled down next to a tree.  
  
Silence.  
  
He looked up at her, she had remained standing and did  
not sit down when he did. "Why don't you have a seat here?  
There's such a great view."  
  
She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not tired."  
  
He stared far away, and fell silent.  
  
Mara looked down, and eventually her patience ran out,  
and swiftly, she settled next to him, perhaps a bit too  
close to him.  
  
He blushed as he felt the outline of her body through  
her dress pressing against him.  
  
* * *  
  
Urd smiled to herself as she admired her face in a  
mirror. She tossed the handmirror aside as she resumed to  
her task at hand, finding out what exactly was going on.  
  
The mirror shimmered and out walked Belldandy. Urd  
leaned backwards to take a look at her visitor, and she was  
quite surprised to see her angelic sister dressed in a way  
that Mara would approve -- leather jacket, leather pants,  
the whole works.  
  
Even her goddess emblem was gone, instead the harsh  
markings of a demoness were in its place.  
  
Urd shook her head. "Belldandy, while I do approve of  
your choice in clothing, what's with the demon markings?"  
  
Belldandy looked around timidly. "Is Keiichi around?"  
  
"Nope, Mara dragged him out of here. Now, she's one  
messed up demoness. She's all dressed up all prim and  
proper."  
  
Urd turned around and gave her sister full attention.  
"Mara and you dressed up weird just can't be a coincidence?"  
  
Belldandy sighed. "Apparently Kami-sama hasn't told  
you."  
  
"Apparently not."  
  
* * *  
  
The waitress walked up to Kami-sama and his darker  
brother, somewhat amused. "You don't have to help. I can  
clean this up myself."  
  
The Devil gave his brother a wink.  
  
"Ouch!" she said, dropping the piece of glass that had  
cut her.  
  
"Oh, you're cut," he said, as he knelt next to her.  
"Here, let me make you feel better." And having said that,  
he licked the bleeding wound.  
  
She tried to protest, but a strange feeling came over  
her as she stared at the pink tongue, delicately sliding  
over her finger, in a leisurely, erotic way.  
  
She sighed contently.  
  
That was when Kami-sama snapped his fingers and broke  
the influence that his brother had over the poor waitress.  
She stood up suddenly, blushing violently, and then without  
a word, she ran off to the bathroom.  
  
"Enough with the games."  
  
The Devil sighed, "You're such a party pooper. Anyways,  
I was having a conversation with a succubus the other day,  
and she made an interesting comment, quite unusual might I  
add. Succubi usually just love to prattle on and on about  
dreams and messing around with people..."  
  
"Get to the point."  
  
"No need to rush me!" exclaimed the Devil. "She made an  
interesting comment about what would happen if I could get a  
demoness and a goddess from your Relief Office to completely  
switch roles."  
  
"Your point? There's nothing special about that."  
  
"Well, here's the kicker. What if you and I evaluated  
each. How well can the goddess be a demoness, and how well  
can the demoness be a goddess? If the goddess does a better  
job, then you win. If the demoness does a better job, then  
I win."  
  
Kami-sama sighed. "Such a contest doesn't interest me  
at all."  
  
"How about this. You can pick my representative, and I  
can pick your representative." There was no response from  
Kami-sama. "Come on, you're no fun at all! It's been six  
eons since we've last played together. Don't you ever wish  
for the good, old days?"  
  
"Alright, for old time's sake," muttered Kami-sama.  
"But remember, limitations must be placed on the outcome and  
the winner can not demand for something that will last for  
more than one day in Midgard."  
  
"Hey, remember, Evil can't exist without Good," said  
the Devil with a smile. "I'm not here to destroy you. I'm  
just a little bored, that's all."  
  
* * *  
  
Urd shook her head. "So the Devil chose you."  
  
"Yes, and Kami-sama chose Mara."  
  
"Let me get this straight. If you're good at being a  
Demoness, Kami-sama has the power to ask his brother to do  
anything? But if Mara is better at being a Goddess, the  
Devil gets to ask Kami-sama to do anything?"  
  
Belldandy nodded her head.  
  
Urd moaned as she downed a glass of sake. "So how long  
is this charade supposed to last?"  
  
"One month."  
  
Urd then realized something. "Say, if you're supposed  
to be a demoness, your appearance here is not a good sign."  
  
Demoness Belldandy nodded her head in agreement. "Yes,  
I intend to sabotage dinner and give Mara a hard time."  
  
With a groan, Urd slammed her head against the table a  
couple of times.  
  
"Did I say something wrong?" asked Belldandy, who was  
quite perplexed by her sister's behavior.  
  
Urd looked up and snapped at Belldandy. "You're  
supposed to be bad. You don't have to tell me what you  
intend to do."  
  
* * *  
  
"We're home!" exclaimed Keiichi as he and Mara walked in  
the front door.  
  
Urd ran up to the two of them, like a child expecting a  
gift, but what enthusiasm she had quickly disappeared. "Oh,  
no food. I'm starving here, when's dinner?"  
  
Mara sighed and rubbed her temples with her hand. "I'll  
make dinner."  
  
She walked into the kitchen, bumping into Skuld who was  
carrying an armload of ice cream and chocolate syrup, all of  
which she thoughtfully dropped onto the floor as she  
screamed and ran out of the kitchen.  
  
Mara swore as she looked at the mess that she had to  
clean.  
  
Skuld ran screaming out of the kitchen and encountering  
Keiichi and Urd, she stopped screaming, eyed the two of  
them, and decided to seek comfort from the lesser of two  
evils.  
  
She resumed screaming and ran to Keiichi. "There's a  
demon in the kitchen!"  
  
Urd looked to the kitchen and promptly heard Mara  
tearing through the refrigerator and cupboards, and then she  
looked at Skuld.  
  
"Ignore a word the little runt's saying. She's  
delirious from all the ice cream." Urd pried Skuld free  
from Keiichi and dragged her off. "She just needs some  
rest."  
  
Keiichi just stood there confused.  
  
"Help me! Urd's going to sell me to the demon!"  
  
* * *  
  
Mara grabbed a cookbook and placed it on the table.  
"Cooking can't be too hard. If Belldandy can do it, why  
can't I?"  
  
She quickly flipped through the book, finally settling  
on a recipe that seemed interesting.  
  
She eyed the ingredients list and one by one she sought  
out each entry. "Some cabbage... some carrots... an eye of  
a newt... some arsenic..."  
  
She paused as she realized the further down the list of  
ingredients she read, the more they didn't seem quite right.  
Perplexed, she returned to the cookbook and found that the  
entire list had changed in the meantime.  
  
Angrily, she tossed the cookbook aside and grabbed  
another one.  
  
And she tried again, and again, but there was some evil  
conspiracy among all the cookbooks against her, and the same  
thing happened again and again.  
  
"I can't believe this!" she cried out in frustration.  
She gazed at the clock, which indicated that she had to have  
a dinner ready in five minutes, and at the kitchen table  
which was covered with all the foodstuffs that she could  
find in the kitchen.  
  
"Oh, food is food. I'll just boil all of this stuff..."  
she thought as she walked over to the stove. But  
unfortunately for her, the stove was a co-conspirator with  
the cookbooks and with a low roar, it flamed brightly,  
overwhelming her.  
  
* * *  
  
Urd laughed insanely as she heard Mara cursing in the  
kitchen at the stubborn stove.  
  
Keiichi gave her an angry glare. "Only you would laugh  
in a situation like this." He stood up and walked into the  
kitchen and found Mara kneeling on the floor, muttering to  
herself.  
  
"I can't do this, I can't do this," she said over and  
over again, like a mantra.  
  
He took a look at the stove which was breathing fire and  
shaking around in a most unnatural way, throwing food around  
and making a terrible mess. He ignored the pieces of  
flambed food flying around and knelt down next to her.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll go order some food. We can clean  
this mess up later," he said. "Why don't you get some  
rest?" He helped Mara to her feet.  
  
That was when the kitchen sink decided that it was a  
good time to participate in the mayhem. The faucet spun  
impossibly fast until it fell over and a strong jet of water  
sprayed out, aimed at just the perfect angle to completely  
saturate Mara from head to toe.  
  
Drenched, cold, and angry, she grabbed him by the  
collars and pulled him close. "I can't take this any more!"  
she screamed.  
  
Urd sighed contently as she heard Mara's scream of  
defeat. "Life's beginning to become interesting."  
  
* * *  
  
Keiichi carefully donned his jacket and fished the keys  
for his motorbike out of the dresser. He silently lamented  
about his unusual life.  
  
Quickly leafing through his wallet, he paused before  
Mara's door, hand poised to knock.  
  
The door was roughly pulled open, and he found himself  
face to face with the scariest face that he could possible  
see in his entire life. "What do you want? Are you here to  
make my life even worse?"  
  
He took a step back. "I just wanted to know whether you  
wanted to eat anything specifically," he said in a very  
small voice.  
  
That was when he noticed the Mara was quite naked, and  
her charms were quite bare for him to see. He suddenly  
blushed bright red, as if all of his blood had decided to  
pool up in his face.  
  
He shielded his eyes quickly. "I'm so sorry!" He then  
turned and ran.  
  
Urd looked up from a comic book just in time to see him  
tear out of the door. She sighed. "Still a little school  
boy."  
  
"Do you think I was a little harsh?"  
  
Urd looked up and found a tiny Belldandy sitting on a  
pillow next to her. "Hey, you're supposed to be bad. I  
think you did a pretty good job."  
  
Belldandy frowned, slightly. "Keiichi wasn't too  
pleased. And he's fawning over Mara."  
  
The tone of voice surprised Urd. "Well, he thinks Mara  
is his true love."  
  
"Do you think Mara is more attractive than me?"  
  
"Nah. If you weren't in this stupid bet, Keiichi would  
take you over Mara any day."  
  
Belldandy sighed. "By the way, when are you going to  
untie Skuld?"  
  
Urd glanced sideways at Belldandy. "Thanks for  
reminding me."  
  
Skuld tried her best to scream, but the bindings around  
her hands, ankles and mouth were too much for her.  
  
* * *  
  
"Most unimpressive."  
  
Mara sat up in bed and found the Devil sitting in a  
chair looking at her.  
  
"Belldandy is winning so far," he said as he leaned  
forwards. "And you haven't been doing anything to rack up  
points."  
  
"It's really hard. I'm just not used to..."  
  
"Well, of all the goddesses that I could have chosen,  
Belldandy has got to be the purest of all of them. And  
she's turing out to be a rather productive demon."  
  
Mara looked down. "I can't do this..."  
  
The Devil grabbed her head and tapped his cold fingers  
against her scalp, as if drumming his words into her head.  
"Think about it. You have a life of leisure now. You have  
a devoted boyfriend, no, slave. You just have to be a good  
goddess. I hope you understand, because if I lose, it is  
going to be your fault."  
  
He stood up and bared his fangs. "And I hate losing  
to my brother." With a puff of fire and smoke, he  
disappeared, leaving Mara in a cold sweat.  
  
* * *  
  
Mara couldn't sleep that night. Having slept in coffins  
for most of her life, she found the bed a bit too soft for  
her tastes.  
  
She put on her gown and left her room, only to, by some  
strange joke of fate, to literally bump into Keiichi who was  
balancing a tray of food and a couple books.  
  
"What are you doing up so late?" she asked.  
  
He bowed his head down. "I'm paying pennance for  
procrastinating." To emphasize his point, he held up the  
heavy tomes for her to see.  
  
At that inopportune moment, Mara's stomach, enticed by  
the sight and smell of food, growled loudly in protest.  
  
"You didn't have dinner. There's still some stuff left  
over in the refrigerator if you're interested." He smiled.  
"I literally had to fend Urd off with my chopsticks. Enjoy  
it while you can."  
  
He walked to his room, and closed the door behind him.  
  
* * *  
  
Mara carefully openned the plastic trays and helped  
herself to the food. It was cold, but to her starving  
stomach, delicious. Hungrily, she attacked the food and  
helped herself to some tea.  
  
"So, Keiichi, still..." Urd barged into the kitchen,  
and frowned when she found Mara finishing up the leftovers.  
"Oh, it's you."  
  
Mara gestured to the teapot. "Have some tea,  
complements of Keiichi."  
  
Urd sighed and sat next to Mara. "Might as well." She  
eyed the bare containers in front of Mara who appeared to be  
quite satiated. "Not as good as Chinese food, though."  
  
She watched the steaming cup of tea. "I know what  
you're thinking. You don't want to be a goddess. If you  
had a choice between dying and being a goddess, I know you  
would rather die."  
  
"Your point being?" growled Mara.  
  
"Why don't you just give up? Neither side wins, you can  
go back to being a demon, and Belldandy can get the  
attention that she deserves."  
  
"Urd, I can't give up. While Keiichi was out, the Devil  
visited me. He told me that I had to win and there was no  
other way." She shivered slightly. "He can think of  
millions of punishments worse than death."  
  
Urd savored some tea then flashed Mara a grin. "You  
don't have too much choice then." Her grin melted away,  
leaving behind only a serious expression. "But remember  
this, if you do anything to Keiichi, I'll make sure for the  
next millions of eons, you will be enjoying a most exquisite  
form of pain."  
  
"He's only a mortal."  
  
"He might be a mortal, but he saved dinner for you,"  
said Urd as she leaned back and pointed at the empty tray.  
"Thanks to him, I'm the one starving now."  
  



	2. Chapter 2

  
Chapter 2  
  
"Wake up!"  
  
Mara moaned as Urd nudged her rather hard. "I just want  
to sleep. Leave me alone."  
  
"Get your lazy ass out of bed. Belldandy never  
oversleeps." Urd grabbed a hold of Mara and dragged the  
neo-goddess out of bed and onto the floor.  
  
"You didn't have to pull me out of bed," muttered Mara  
as she summoned a gown.  
  
"Awww, in a bad mood? Some sake?" Urd held up a  
half-empty bottle.  
  
Mara sighed, and silently cursed her lack of power.  
"Drinking this early?"  
  
Urd shrugged her shoulders. "It's just you and me  
babe. Skuld took off with Keiichi. I'm bored." She handed  
a overflowing glass of sake to Mara.  
  
* * *  
  
Keiichi sighed as he heard some whispers from various  
classmates who eyed him and Skuld.  
  
"What happened with Mara? He's after her little sister  
now? What a pervert!"  
  
"Maybe he hitched up with Mara so he could play  
hanky-panky with her younger sister!"  
  
"Wow, what a beautiful, little girl..."  
  
"You're just as messed up as Morisato!"  
  
Apparently, allowing Skuld to go to school with him was  
a bad idea, and he buried his head into a book, a weak  
attempt to fade away.  
  
* * *  
  
Mara sniffed the glass of sake and satisfied that Urd  
hadn't spiked it, she downed it.  
  
"Come on, let's drink up like old times," said Urd as  
she left. Mara, she shrugged her shoulders and followed.  
  
The two of them simultaneously downed a few glasses,  
eventually finishing a bottle in complete silence.  
  
Mara gazed at the empty glass in her hand and then at  
Urd, who was visibly affected by the sake, to say the least.  
"Is everyday as boring as this?"  
  
Urd yawned and then nodded. "It's ususally like this,  
but it's fun as hell to watch Keiichi and Belldandy. I just  
don't understand the two of them, so slow, so timid. If I  
were Belldandy, I would have made my move by now."  
  
But there was something that bothered Mara, the way that  
Urd responded, there seemed to be a gleam in her eyes. "You  
don't want to return to Asgard, do you?"  
  
"What gave you that idea?" Urd readjusted herself so  
she was comfortably lying in the couch. "Besides, without  
me, Belldandy and Keiichi would never get anywhere at all."  
  
"If I were Belldandy, I would have blown this joint a  
long time ago," muttered Mara as she downed another glass.  
  
"But you're not Belldandy. You don't know what it means  
to love someone."  
  
"As if you're an authority on love. How many boyfriends  
have you gone through so far? More than twenty?"  
  
Urd shakily waved off Mara's retort. "Big deal, you  
learn a lot more from mistakes than successes." She pointed  
at her eye. "I can see true love. Nothing quite like it."  
  
* * *  
  
"Hey! Keiichi! Skuld! Wait up!"  
  
Keiichi looked behind and found his sister. "Megumi,  
what do you want?"  
  
Skuld planted her hands on her hips. "Hey lady, what  
are you doing here!"  
  
"What's this I hear about you hitting on little girl?"  
  
"I'm not hitting on a little girl!"  
  
"I'm not a little girl!" exclaimed Skuld.  
  
"That's not what Tamiya and Otaki are saying. They say  
that you have this thing for little girls."  
  
Keiichi sighed and bowed this head. "Those two... that  
would explain all of the strange looks that I've been  
getting all day." His head bowed even lower. "Not to  
mention telephone numbers from a few sex crazed women  
dressed in sailor suits."  
  
But Megumi wasn't listening to him, she was far too  
intimidated by the aura of anger that eminated from Skuld.  
  
Skuld unsheathed her divine hammer and brandished it  
menacingly. "Keiichi, you will help me find Tamiya and  
Otaki and I will show them that I'm not a little girl!"  
  
* * *  
  
Urd squinted at the clock. "It's almost noon. Why  
don't you make yourself useful and bring some lunch for  
Keiichi and Skuld."  
  
Mara downed the glass of sake and placed an empty bottle  
into the burgeoning pile next to her. "I see you don't hold  
up as well as you used to."  
  
"What do you mean?" slurred Urd. "I'm telling you, you  
better grub for points because Belldandy's going to nail  
your ass to the... Zzzzzzzz" Urd slumped back and fell  
asleep on the couch.  
  
Mara shook her head, but she realized that Urd had a  
point. She wasn't going to win by doing nothing.  
Painfully, she gathered the empty bottles into her arms and  
she walked to the kitchen.  
  
She hesitated before entering, remembering last night's  
fiasco, but she entered, dumped the trash, and tried to make  
something edible.  
  
* * *  
  
Megumi suddenly laughed, and patted Skuld on the head.  
"Don't worry, I'll show you where those two morons are."  
  
"Are you insane, Megumi?"  
  
"You like Tamiya and Otaki spreading rumors?" asked  
Megumi as she took Skuld by the hand and walked in the  
direction of Motor Club.  
  
"No!" started Keiichi, and he leaned in close and  
whispered. "But do Tamiya and Otaki deserve death? It's  
only rumors."  
  
Megumi cocked her head. "Are you trying to hide  
something from me? Like maybe you really do have a thing  
for Skuld?"  
  
"No no no!"   
  
"Well then, that's settled. Let's go Skuld. Time for  
some divine retribution."  
  
"Right!" said Skuld as she hefted her hammer.  
  
* * *  
  
Mara finally arrived at Nekomi Tech, two bento boxes in  
her hand. She looked up at the building and then around at  
the spacious campus.  
  
"Where on Earth can I find Keiichi?"  
  
At that moment, two crying men ran past, one with  
ridiculous hair and dressed in leather, the other, a huge  
looking oaf. And sure enough, behind them was Skuld waving  
her hammer around like a maniac.  
  
And behind her, was Keiichi who finally caught up to  
Skuld and grabbed a hold of her hammer and shouted. "Skuld,  
killing them is not the solution!"  
  
"Keiichi..."  
  
Both Skuld and Keiichi stopped struggling, both  
surprised.  
  
Skuld squeaked, forgetting about Tamiya and Otaki who  
had long since completed another lap around the campus. She  
jumped behind Keiichi and hugged him.  
  
"It's the demon!" cried Skuld.  
  
"Mara, what are you doing here?" Keiichi saw the bento  
boxes. "You didn't have to..."  
  
"Here." Mara handed the boxes over to him. She forced  
a smile that could curdle milk, break glass, and all that.  
"Let me talk with my sister for a moment." She grabbed a  
hold of Skuld, who screamed and pushed Keiichi in the  
direction of "danger."  
  
Mara tried getting closer to Skuld, but found Keiichi  
pushed right up against her.  
  
He blushed, and tried to voice an apology.  
  
She growled.  
  
* * *  
  
Urd snickered as she watched Keiichi nurse his bruised  
face. "Say Keiichi, love's painful, eh?"  
  
"You're not helping, Urd. I don't know what I'm doing  
to make Mara feel so uncomfortable." He leaned his face  
against the icepack.  
  
"Well, from what I heard from Skuld, you felt her up at  
lunch."  
  
"I did not feel her up!" He sighed again. "Can you ask  
her for me or something? I can't stand seeing her like  
this. She just seems so unhappy."  
  
Urd repressed an evil smile. "Maybe you should try  
really hard to make her feel better."  
  
"You're right. Why should I just sulk around and depend  
on Mara? Maybe Mara's just tired and maybe this is a chance  
where she can finally depend on me..." His voice trailed  
off.  
  
Urd flinched slightly. He was actually taking her words  
seriously. "Whoa wait a moment. No need to go overboard  
here."  
  
Keiichi smiled. "Why is this going overboard? Ever  
since Mara's been here, she's been slaving away for all of  
us. She deserves more. Maybe a nice, long break."  
  
Urd blanched as Keiichi fetched his jacket and left.  
She leaned backwards and moaned. "Belldandy is not going to  
like this."  
  
As soon as Keiichi left home, whatever enthusiasm he had  
shown Urd deflated. A seemingly impossible task lay before  
him, he had to somehow justify to Mara his worth.  
  
He sighed and mounted his bike. "Man, whatever gave me  
this idea? She's a goddess and I'm just..." He revved the  
engine and sped off.  
  
* * *  
  
"This place again?" Kami-sama stared at his less  
illustrious brother.  
  
"Yeah, why not? I really like the selection here," said  
the Devil and the two of them seated themselves. "You have  
got to try their cafe au lait."  
  
The two of them ordered and prompty received their cafe  
au lait.  
  
Kami-sama started. "Well, I guess we should make the  
most of this visit and discuss the status of our little  
bet."  
  
The Devil nodded as he carefully sipped. "Yes. Well, I  
am quite impressed by Belldandy's performance a couple  
nights ago. I was unaware that even the purest of goddesses  
can have a bit of a mean streak."  
  
"Jealousy is a very powerful emotion."  
  
"Whatever. And at the same time, I am somewhat  
disappointed by Mara's repeated failures. What motivated  
you to choose her as my representative?"  
  
"The same line of reasoning that you used to choose  
Belldandy."  
  
The Devil sighed. "Come on here. We're brothers. No  
need to give me that cryptic crap you give to mortals."  
  
"You are concerned about Mara's performance. Have you  
given any thought as to what will happen eventually?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"She grew up in Hell. She's probably going to have to  
take a while to cleanse herself of its corruption."  
  
The Devil laughed. "You seriously believe that she is  
capable of good? Have you even tried browsing her thoughts?  
She's hating every moment of this experience."  
  
"She certainly is capable. With a little nurturing..."  
  
The Devil frowned. "There is only so far one can  
achieve with nurturing."  
  
"Obviously you are quite disappointed with this  
exercise?"  
  
"Disappointed is an understatement. How did you ever  
manage to convince me to take part in this twisted scheme?"  
  
* * *  
  
"Where's Keiichi?" Mara yawned as she sat next to Urd.  
  
Urd shrugged her shoulders. "Beats me. What's with the  
yawns? I've never seen you tired."  
  
"You'd be tired if I ripped your emblem off your head.  
I'm not used to this trickle of power. I don't know how  
Belldandy ever managed to stay awake."  
  
"It's called conservation. You know how Belldandy  
doesn't really rely on her powers."  
  
Mara shuddered. "I can't imagine doing anything by  
hand."  
  
"You never know. When you're in love, practically  
anything is possible."  
  
* * *  
  
Mara sat down alone and echoed the words that Urd had  
said, "When you're in love, practically anything is  
possible."  
  
She gave it a moment's thought when a truly devious idea  
came to her. "Of course! I'll just help myself to some of  
Urd's stuff and make myself totally infatuated with  
Keiichi!"  
  
Peeking out of her room, she carefully tiptoed down the  
hall and listened carefully at the door to Urd's room. It  
was satisfactorily silent.  
  
Ever so slowly, she twisted the doorknob slowly, wincing  
each time she felt the scrape of steel against steel.  
  
"Ok," she whispered herself as she carefully eyed the  
contents of various jars and bottles, and randomly flipping  
through a spellbook, she grab ingredients and dumped them  
into a convenient beaker.  
  
Having reached the bottom of the ingrediants list, she  
turned her attention to the beaker. It was filled with a  
frothing, bubbling sludge that seemed to pulse randomly  
every few seconds.  
  
"Oh well, whatever it takes to win," and she forced  
herself to swallow the concoction.  
  
* * *  
  
Urd was mildly distressed when she heard a loud poof and  
watched pinkish smoke waft into the living room. She  
grumbled as she hated being pulled from her favorite soap.  
  
Waving her hands, she slowly made her way through the  
smoke to her room, the door carelessly left open, indicated  
the nature of the transgression.  
  
"Whoever did this is going to be introduced to a world  
of pain!" cried Urd, as a broken flask rolled out and came  
to a rest against her foot.  
  
"Mmmm, hi there, sexy." Urd felt arms, breasts, and  
tongue.  
  
She immediately pulled away from the kiss, and responded  
with a resolute slap. "I should have known it would be  
you. No one touches my stuff!" She intoned a spell of  
purification, and the smoke suddenly vanished.  
  
Mara pouted. "Well, if you love to play rough, I will  
too." She grabbed Urd's hand, and handcuffed it to the  
table as her outfit phased out and was replaced with tight  
leather.  
  
She even had a whip to boot.  
  
* * *  
  
Fortunately, Keiichi had just arrived him moments  
earlier, and was somewhat surprised by the sounds of  
activity coming from Urd's room. He chanced a peek, and  
nearly fainted from blood loss.  
  
Luckily, Skuld was there to catch him, but in doing so,  
she finally saw what had caused Keiichi such distress. Urd  
was trying to scream for help, but was properly gagged. And  
Mara was testing out a whip.  
  
Keiichi looked at the mess of bottles on the table, and  
formulated his own conclusion. "Urd, why do you have to be  
such a pain? Only you would drugging your own..."  
  
He never finished as he found an amorous and aggressive  
Mara trying to strip him down.  
  
"Mara, no! I'm to young for this! Urd drugged you!  
Please, someone help me!"  
  
The weight of the situation was just too much, and  
Keiichi did the most sensible thing and fainted. Mara  
looked down at Keiichi, confused.  
  
She hadn't expected her man to behave like that.  
  
That was when an armload of Skuld bombs landed in the  
room.  
  
* * *  
  
"Gosh, you would be the last demon that I know who would  
resort to such a stupid plan." Urd was not happy at all.  
Not only did Mara handcuff her and almost whipped her, Skuld  
took advantage of the situation by destroying her room.  
  
Mara shrugged her shoulders. "I can't do anything  
right."  
  
"And what makes you think that you artificially lusting  
for Keiichi will help?"  
  
"You did say that love made anything possible."  
  
Urd groaned. "Lust is not the same as love, you dolt.  
Besides, no Goddess would ever resort to such  
underhanded..."  
  
"I didn't drug him at all. Just myself."  
  
She still felt obligated to chew out Mara. "Well, you  
still were cheating. Besides, if I were you, I would have  
tried Formula X39 instead. Much milder, believe me."  
  
* * *  
  
Keiichi sighed as he sat alone against a tree in the  
park. He was unwilling to admit it, but whatever love  
existed between he and Mara was dying painfully. Whatever  
he tried, he would always disappoint her.  
  
"Someone's looking a bit down today."  
  
He looked up. "Oh hi Sayoko."  
  
"You're not as spunky as usual. Trouble on the  
homefront?"  
  
"You said it." He shook his head. "I don't know what  
I'm doing wrong, but I just feel so separated from Mara.  
It's like she's a completely new person, overnight."  
  
"Really? You know there is nothing as changeable as a  
woman."  
  
"Like I should trust you," said Keiichi, who had the  
slightest hint of a smile. He looked around, suddenly self  
conscious. "I don't know, it feels weird dumping all of  
these feelings on you."  
  
Sayoko smiled, as she scooted closer to him. "No  
trouble, no trouble at all."  
  
Belldandy squinted as she zoomed in on Keiichi and  
Sayoko sitting together, and she smiled, somewhat. At  
least, Keiichi hopelessly in love with Sayoko would be a big  
improvement over Keiichi hopelessly in love with Mara.  
  
She ran over quickly in her mind the basics of invoking  
demonic magic. She then carefully wove a spell and planted  
seeds of love in her beloved.  
  
She took a step back and dissolved into the air, not  
willing to admire the deviousness and perfection of her  
handiwork, for it hurt to think that she would resort to  
using Keiichi to get to Mara.  
  
* * *  
  
Mara sighed as she laid down, boredom and lack of divine  
energy wore her out. But she still couldn't sleep. Perhaps  
it was the fact that Keiichi wasn't home, and according to a  
nonchalant Urd, he was never late for dinner.  
  
Perhaps it was a certain, particular feeling she felt  
today, feelings of embarrassment and guilt over having to  
stoop so low to try to win. The very same feeling that had  
driven her, motivated her to try to make dinner.  
  
Dinner had been a silent affair. A threesome of  
immortals, carefully poking at bland, but passeable food,  
staring at the clock. A strange joke at best, because none  
of them required sustainence as a mortal does.  
  
But unknown to them, the seeds of love within Keiichi  
slowly cracked open and bloomed as the he and Sayako talked  
and talked the evening away.  
  
The two just talked endlessly, as they sat and stared at  
the setting sun and the waking moon. They kept talking as  
they walked about the city.  
  
Even as the couple shared drinks in the bar, their  
banter continued.  
  
* * *  
  
It was midnight, when the front door creaking stirred  
Mara from unsettling dreams. Her eyes snapped open as she  
heard muffled whispered and giggling.  
  
"Oh, Sayako, I never thought..."  
  
Mara sat straight up, got out of bed, and opened the  
door to her room to find Sayako and Keiichi, the two of  
them, stinking like a couple of drunks, stripping, walking,  
kissing.  
  
They stumbled and landed against the wall, the light  
from Mara's room disconcerting to their unfocused eyes. His  
eyes met Mara's.  
  
Her lips curled into a snarl, a vicious look of anger, a  
look which quickly passed as she saw the tiny, ethereal  
signature of a demonic spell.  
  
Something ate away at Keiichi as he looked between  
Sayako, who was midway between a state of dress and Mara,  
who stared at him.   
  
Despite his drunkness, a sudden fit of lucidity washed  
over him as he realized what he and Sayako were probably  
going to do.  
  
He blinked his eyes a couple time and he carefully let  
go of Sayako and tried to button up her dress. "I'm really  
sorry," he slurred. "But I think the two of us had a little  
too much to drink..."  
  
He failed miserably, his drunken fingers unable to  
complete the task.  
  
Mara spoke quietly as she saw the remnant ashes of a  
demonic spell blowing away. "Let me help." She buttoned up  
the dress, and led Sayako away.  
  
* * *  
  
Keiichi woke up to find Mara perched on the edge of the  
bed. With a groan, he fell back, the hangover hammering  
home the events of the previous night.  
  
He recalled meeting Sayako, going to a bar to get  
wasted, staggering home with her, Sayako stripping as they  
walked to his room...  
  
He sat up. "Sayako! Did I? Did she?"  
  
Mara shook her head. "You didn't." She stood up. "You  
were under the effects of a demonic charm spell, a strong  
one may I add."  
  
"What happened?" Keiichi rubbed his face a few times  
and groaned. "Last night was just one mess of a blur..."  
  
"You resisted the spell."  
  
And without another word, Mara walked out of the room.  
  
* * *  
  
Belldandy glared at the globe, which revealed Mara  
closing the door behind her. Mara smiled and walked away.  
  
Belldandy was not happy.  
  
With a snarl, she blinked out of existence and blinked  
into Urd's room.  
  
"What's the big deal with Mara?"  
  
Urd looked up from a spellbook. "Oh her? Well, she's  
sort of accepting loving Keiichi and all that."  
  
Belldandy stamped her foot. "How can he still love her,  
I casted a charm spell on Keiichi!"  
  
"You do remember that those spells only work on those  
whose love is not pure."  
  
She grabbed Urd. "And why should that demon deserve  
pure love from my Keiichi?"  
  



End file.
